Christmas Card 2010

Family Wall Red Christmas Card

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3 point stance

Daddy has been giving Griffin 3 point stance 101 lessons lately. He is getting much better since he actually has his feet and hands on the ground now!

Down set.....

Go, go go!!!!

Griffin now wants Daddy to play "tackle" ALL the time :)

The Todd kiddos came over and joined in on the fun too. Love their faces ha!

2.7.11

2.7.11- Save the Date! Its going to be Carter's birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got our letter in the mail today that they have scheduled my csection for 12:30pm that day and we are SO excited!

2.7.11... that just sounds good :)

Carter's 31 week ultrasound

We got to see Carter in an ultrasound today! He was moving ALL over the place and I apologize for the quality of the picture (its a picture of a picture) but I think you can see it enough!

The ultrasound tech said he was one of the most active babies she had ever done before... he was moving so much he was bumping the wand she was using on my belly. He is measuring in the 42% and weighed roughly 3 lbs 15 oz.

We couldnt get over how much he looks like Griffin at this stage. Love those boys FULL lips :)

Pray for the Harrisons

Evie Grace- 20 months old

Ramsey, Alicia, Jonathan and Evie

These are the Harrisons. I went to college with Alicia and she was one of my sorority sisters. She is a close friend and I was grateful to get time with her this past weekend at the cabin. However, tragically her daughter Evie passed away in her sleep Wednesday night. It is with great sadness that I write this post. I have been completely heartbroken since hearing the news on Thursday and it has brought me to my knees. I ask that you join me in praying for this sweet family. It is my prayer that they would have so many people praying for them that they would literally feel the arms of Jesus surrounding them.

In these hard times, I cant help but reflect on the hope we have in Jesus. He has overcome death and now sweet Evie is in His arms for eternity! Our life on this earth is so short and we never know the number of our days.... praise God for His perfect plan for us!

Santa

When we first found out we were becoming parents, Santa was one of our topics to discuss. Both growing up in homes where Santa brought us our presents on Christmas, we knew we didnt want to lie to our kids, however what do we say?

A friend found this article by Mark Driscoll and it is the stance we have taken as well:
http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/mark_driscoll/2010/12/what_we_tell_our_kids_about_santa.html

'Tis the season . . . for parents to decide if they will tell the truth about Santa.
When it comes to cultural issues like Santa, Christians have three options: (1) we can reject it, (2) we can receive it, or (3) we can redeem it.
Since Santa is so pervasive in our culture, it is nearly impossible to simply reject Santa as part of our annual cultural landscape. Still, as parents we don't feel we can simply receive the entire story of Santa because there is a lot of myth built on top of a true story.
So, as the parents of five children, Grace and I have taken the third position to redeem Santa. We tell our kids that he was a real person who did live a long time ago. We also explain how people dress up as Santa and pretend to be him for fun, kind of like how young children like to dress up as pirates, princesses, superheroes, and a host of other people, real and imaginary. We explain how, in addition to the actual story of Santa, a lot of other stories have been added (e.g., flying reindeer, living in the North Pole, delivering presents to every child in one night) so that Santa is a combination of true and make-believe stories.
We do not, however, demonize Santa. Dressing up, having fun, and using the imagination God gave can be an act of holy worship and is something that, frankly, a lot of adults need to learn from children.
What we are concerned about, though, is lying to our children. We teach them that they can always trust us because we will tell them the truth and not lie to them. Conversely, we ask that they be honest with us and never lie. Since we also teach our children that Jesus is a real person who did perform real miracles, our fear is that if we teach them fanciful, make-believe stories as truth, it could erode confidence in our truthfulness where it really matters. So, we distinguish between lies, secrets, surprises, and pretend for our kids. We ask them not to tell lies or keep secrets, but do teach them that some surprises (like gift-giving) and pretending (like dressing up) can be fun and should be encouraged. We tell them the truth and encourage them to have fun watching Christmas shows on television and even sitting on Santa's lap for a holiday photo if they so desire. For parents of younger children wanting them to learn the real story of Santa Claus the Veggie Tales movie Saint Nicholas is a good choice.


Griffin has met Santa as of this past month and knows he says, "Ho, ho, ho!" Besides that... he is terrified of him and so we will have to explain more later :)

Girls Adventurous Weekend in the Mountains!

This was the amazing setting for our girls weekend courtesy of the McMillin family in Seven Devils, NC. Man it was so relaxing and just beautiful! We arrived Friday, enjoyed a dinner downtown and then caught up by the fire that night.

I mean check out this view!

with Amy by the tree

I loved all of the details in this place. Sara's parents had worked VERY hard to make it unique...

The outside of the cabin.. is it not just AMAZING?!?!

So yes I could go on and on about how beautiful it was but as you can see from this picture that I took Saturday morning... it snowed! We were not expecting snow until Sunday afternoon and even when we woke up to it we didnt think much of it.

We all got dressed and decided to go down to the outlets to do some Christmas shopping.... only to figure out that our cars would NOT make it down the hill.

Our cars got stuck, we about froze hiking back up the hill in the snow and needless to say there was no point in getting ready that morning ha!

What to do, what to do?!?

Coach Rett to the rescue!!! Sara's husband was so sweet to drive an hour up there to save us! He drove all our cars down to the bottom and we were able to make it back to Johnson City where they live.

Lunch before we had to leave. Very sad to have to go but better to be safe at the bottom!

We went to dinner and a movie once we got there, and then shared baby gifts. Sara is expecting their first son Colt February 24th!

Carter's sweet gifts from Amy

Preggo friends by the tree

Colt and Carter... friends already :)

I had a blast with you girls... even with the change of plans! It definitely made the trip interesting and one we will never forget..... plus we found out later that they received 18 INCHES after we left. HOLY COW we would have been stuck for a week ha!

Thank you Sara for hosting such a fun weekend. Love you girls!

30 weeks!

We have made it to the 30's! Wowzers... again flying by! With the holidays before us and the hustle and bustle going on, I have no doubt it will continue to just fly by. And I'll be honest... JR and I are probably more in denial about his arrival than we should be! Its obviously coming but its just so surreal :)

This past week has been pretty uneventful in my pregnancy world. EXCEPT LEG CRAMPS! Ah.. I remember having them with Griffin too but I had forgotten how much they hurt- OUCH! I'm at 18 total pounds thus far and really hoping it will remain slow and steady growth because I feel HUGE!

Looking forward to getting to see him in another ultrasound next week!!

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds his, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

Primetimers go to Myrtle Beach

We were THRILLED to get invited to go on the Primetime Christmas trip to Myrtle beach with our church! Griffin was excited to see "the beach!"

taking a ride

He LOVED riding on their bus

Mr. Cheese!

We went to see Christmas on Ice the first night and I was shocked at how well Griffin did. He just sat and watched intentely, even WAY past his bedtime!

Look Mom! I found my pockets :)

sitting in his big boy seat

We took a morning to go down and enjoy the beach. I have never been to the beach in winter months and it was definitely quite different! Funny thing about this picture is that he posed and said, "Cheese" insinuating that he wanted me to take it for him :)

bundled up beach babe!

learning how to fly a kite!

family shot.. boy was it COLD!

We went from one weather extreme to the other... now swimming!

It was very cold water but once they got in and swam around some they got used to it ha! Griffin LOVED this time with Daddy :)

jump!

Daddy and his boy

We went to the Caroline Opry for another Christmas show and during intermission I took Griffin out in the lobby for some photo ops. He posed as usual :)

wasnt so sure about the Nutcracker but he is FAR better than that Santa guy

We had such a great time!!

Some of my favorite personalized things

It seems that there are SO many pregnant ladies out there these days! In hopes that this would help you either buy for someone you know or if you are those family and friends that keep asking what I might want for Carter... here are some of my favorite personalized things!

I probably got more compliments on Griffin's Pacifiers than any other thing and I just loved that they were unique and there was no question who they belonged to!

I also really loved the bottle/cup labels from Inchbug Labels! Great for church nursery or daycare and they are VERY durable!

I love putting out my sweet friend Heather's adorable business- Doodlebug Designs! We have had her make several personalized onesies and tees for Griffin!

And if you are anywhere in the Roane County area, you can always go to my favorite store there and find ALL kinds of personalized goodies from Ella Minnow Pea!

Last but not least, I loved keeping track of all of Griffin's firsts through his first year. A calendar such as this First Year Calendar really helps you do that, as it supplies you with stickers to just insert on the days and makes it even easier that you can hang it on the fridge and mark away as everything comes!


What are some of yalls favorite personalized things for babies?? Always love to hear what else is out there :)